Everything Horses and Livestock® Magazine Feb 2019 Vol 4 Issue 1

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine ®

aggressive. I then worked on our ask, suggest, demand method. Keeping our reactions calm and quiet ensures this horse to be soft and calm while working through each task. I make sure I don’t overwhelm the horses mind during the obstacle course. On the second day, I tried to keep the horse settled while giving him a refresher of each newly learned skill. When it came time to ride through the obstacle course, my horse was very level headed and prepared for each task we had to complete. Overall it was a really great experience meeting other trainers from around the US and observing their techniques. Bringing home the championship belt buckle to a small town in Kansas is truly where it all started. As a child my father, Patrick Saffer, taught me the true ways of natural horsemanship. When I was 9 years old, I started my first colt. Now over ten years later, our father son duo brings nearly 30 years of collaborative training experience to the table. We work hard to connect the rider and the horse to advance the pair using the same communication skills as the lead horse in the herd. This year I plan to continue traveling and competing in colt starting challenges, holding more clinics, giving more lessons and building better

I always had dreams of making it to the NFR when I was young. I figured it would be riding bulls or broncs. Needless to say, when I received an invite to the Colt Starting Challenge USA Finals, in Las Vegas, Nevada it was nothing short of a blessing! I feel my passion for riding the rough stock might give me an advantage of sitting the rank ones in this challenge.

language of your horse, it’s completely possible. The first day I drew a two-year- old paint gelding, stepping into the ring I exposed the horse to pop up barrels, tarps and flags. We moved onto lunging the horse and disengaging his hip to really get control of the hind quarters. Shortly after I began desensitizing the horse to the saddle, and preparing him to be mounted. Here I used a

For this colt starting challenge,

pressure and release technique by stepping into the stirrup until he stood still several times, then calmly taking my seat. Later I noticed that while asking for forward motion, he was getting

we have two and a half hours to train an unbroke horse to complete a timed obstacle course. Knowing this can be a little overwhelming. If you take it slow, really read the body

Continued on Pg 12

9 Everything Horses and Livestock® | February 2019 | EHALmagazine.com